Courts Begin to Hear Challenges to Presidential Appointments

In a major test of presidential power, federal appeals courts are starting to hear legal challenges to President Barack Obama's decision to bypass the U.S. Senate in appointing three members to the National Labor Relations Board. The suits have been winding their way through the legal system for several months but the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals was set to be the first to hear oral arguments on the issue today. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit will take up the issue in a similar case next Wednesday. Legal observers predict that the issue likely will end up before the U.S. Supreme Court as there are “good arguments on both sides” and there is “little precedent on the issue.” Learn more about the cases in this story from the Associated Press.